Storage battery



UNITED STATES and has for itsgeneral object the provision plicable. In addition to the container and electro fluence of the current.

compounds 3,11%

of essential members whichshall possess sufficient penetrability to the electric and chemical action for efficient operation together with a high degree of resistance to the corrosive action of the electrolyte and the. disrupted action of the processesinvolved. The type of battery to which I especially refer is the lead oxide cell in which the plates consist of metallic frames or grids filled with lead immersed in dilute sulphuric'acid, alt ough some features of my improvements are applicable to other types of battery and even to other electrolytic apparatus andI claim and desire to secure the same for every use to which they may be aplyte such a cell contains three essential members, a positive plate, a negative plate, and a separator. The positive and negative plates are generally made in a number of sections interspersed together and connected in parallel, but this is merely for compactness; they are generally located just as close to gether as possible to decrease the internal resistance; and separators are employed to prevent accidental contact between the plates by reason of buckling and loosening of the active material or by the formation of 'dendritic metallic growths under the in- These separators are necessarily of a nature-to permit the passage of the electric current and this wlth the least possible4obstruction compatible with the prevention of metallic contact. Perforated sheets of rubber or the like are used 1 in ,some batteries, particularly those wherein the rate of discharge is slow and uniform; but in the case of a battery of high discharge rate such as is used in automobile-starters, the tendency toward dendritic growths is such as to necessitate the restriction of'the openings t capillary size through which the metal particles cannot penetratef Accordingly the separators have generally been PATENT: "OFFICE.

WILLIAM H, 'WOOD, OF SOUTH EUCLID, OHIO.

STORAGE BATTERY.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd Feb 7, 1922 1920. Serial No. 385,541.

made of an organized, pervious, cellulose material, either in the-form of thin sheets of wood or of wicks of cellulose contained in sheets of insoluble supporting material such as rubber. These offer, the disadvantage of slowly becoming dissolved by the acid if kept submerged and rapidly becoming carbonized and destroyed if exposed to.

the air by evaporation of the electrolyte.

Also the active plates heretofore used-have been active only on the surface, the density of the lead compounds being such as to preclude interior reaction. This hasled.to a

construction of. plates having a maximum ofsurface area and a minimum of thickness, WhlCh' has aggravated the tendency toward warping. In an attempt to afford access of which is the fact that the carbon is an elec trically active material.

The problemis essentially ,the same in both the active plates and the separators, namely to afford penetrability to the electrolyte Without solubility in the same; and the gist of my invention consists in forming such battery elements with Wicks orcapillaries of organized, porous keratin when used in the lead substance of the plates. This has the effect of opening the interior portions to the electrical and chemical action, and when'used inthe separators it has the efiect of permitting freeionic travel, but without possibility of solution. And besides when used in the plates it enables the .same to be made thicker by reason of the fact that the interior portions become active, and also permits the use of separators of a more pervious nature since the increased surface opened to electric action decreases the tendency,to throw out excrescences of conducting material Keratin is the substance which composes the 'epidermoid outgrowths of vertebrate animals, namely, the hair, hoofs, horns, and nails of mammals, the feathers of birds, and the scales of fishes. This keratin occurs both in an organized, porous, condition and in a horny, impervious condition, the two conditions always accompanying each other.

v toadher'e to the fiber. T For'example, an im- Thus the interior or core .of hair, wool, or

feathers and the base portions of horns, hoofs,

and fish scales are of such an'organized,

- hair, or feathers, the exterior parts are cov-" porous structure as to convey nourishment; while the outer parts exhibit an lmpervlous, hrny,'-protective condition. Thus in wool,

' ered'with overlapping scales which are very minute in the case of wool and comparatively large'in the case of feathers. In the case of fishes the scaly part is greatly in- 4 creased proportionately as is also true 1n the jnails','horns, and hoofs of mammals.

' :In order to pre are this material for the purpose in view, first remove or loosen the unorganized or horny portions by means of. an aklalineor alkali sulphite solution, pref-- erably sodium sulphite;. which'dissolves the horny portions at least as' easily as it does the porous and organized portions. I preferably employ-a form of, raw material in which the organized portion bears the largest possible relationto the unorganized portion, namely wool, hair or feathers; all ossess a fibrous character whichbefore the fiber itself is destroyed and may be arrested before the scales are completely removed, provided only that enough are loosened 'to afford read ingress and egress to the liquid and to ena'b e the active material mersion for one hour in a solutlon of one part sodium sulphide to thirty parts of'water is excellent for W001 and hair while an im- 4 mersion for much less time or in a considerably weaker solution is sufiicient in the case of' feathers. The progress of the descaling can readily be ascertained by the microscope.

The organized substance is then comminuted, if necessary, although I prefer to retain suflicient lengthto secure a ood-bind-' ing action, say 7; to 1} inch. In t'e case of fine feathers no shortening is necessary, al-

though considerable care 1s required in descaling since the fine organized substance dissolves ve quickly upon'overtreatment.

' The use 0 this material is most beneficial in the positive plate since this is the more liable to crumble and buckle,- and is also more active by nature than the negative platel When used in separators it may either be woven, knitted, or netted, either by itself or in company with' other strands; or

it may be arranged in the form of wicks enetrating a plate of impervious material. 11 the case of. separators indeed, the fabric I may first be woven out of wool or hair and the descaling effected subsequently although I prefer to employ slaughter house hair or featherswhich are now waste products and,

remove the scales prior to fabrication which is thereb facilitated In the case of separators o the wick type the hairs need not always be descaled rovidedonly that they are arrangedwith t eir axes parallel to the len h of the wick.

he referred type of-separator consists of a fa ric woven from twisted strands or descaled hairand stiffened by strips of in- I soluble material such as rubber or stretched upon aninsoluble framework. A

It will be understood that the different elements of m improved battery may be used separately if desired and that any battery utilizes my invention which employs .any one or more of the same. .It will also be understood that I' do not restrict myself to any of the details of construction or ma -nipulation herein described except as the same are specifically-recited in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: p

1. An acid resistant element for storage batteries made pervious by the presence or or anized keratin.

. A storage battery element which is rendered pervious by the resence of organized.

keratin from which t been loosened.

3. A storage battery element having per e horny parts have vious wicks of organized keratin leading inwardiy from the surfaces thereof.

4. stora e battery element consisting of a substant1a ly impervious substance i'mxed with organized keratin, the whole fabricated into plate form.

5. A stora e. battery element consisting of 'a substantia ly impervious substance intimixed with porous keratin. storage battery element consisting of a substantiall impervious substance intim'ately mixe with the epidermal covering of vertebrate terrestrial'animal's from which the scales have been loosened chemically.

7. A storage battery elementponsisting of a substantia ly impervious substance intimately mixed with finely divided birds feathers from which the external scales have been removed. i

8. A composition of matter for the plates of stora e batteries, consisting essentially'of oxide 0 lead mixed with porous keratin.

9. A composition of matter for the plates portions have been sepa oxide of lead mixed with t e comminuted 4 epidermal covering of-vertebrate terrestrial animals from which the scales-have I loosened chemically.

A 11. A composition of matter for the nlates of storage batteries consisting essentially of oxide of lead mixed with sectionsof b1rds feathers.

v 12. A plate for a storage battery consisting essentially of a lead'compound impregnated with short fibrous sections of organized, porous, animal matter.

signature. 1

WILLIAM H. WOOD. 

